Modern computer systems typically include multiple semiconductor devices coupled together on a circuit board by one or more standardized buses. Typically, these buses are multi-drop buses in which multiple components connect to a single bus. Communication along such buses is typically by a synchronous communication protocol.
As systems become ever smaller and include more components, there is a focus on creating ultra-mobile devices that include a small number of integrated circuits. One design focus is to incorporate virtually all desired functionality into a single semiconductor device. Communications between different functionalities of the device may occur synchronously or asynchronously. Current mechanisms for handling asynchronous communications on a bus connected to such devices typically require great complexity and implementation costs.